Beneath a Burning Sky
by MadJackal
Summary: The lives of a Champion, a heretic, a sniper, and a Guardsman hang in the balance. A conflict in no man's land during the 13th Black Crusade.


The sun was setting in the distance, sinking behind the jagged outline of the blasted cityscape and casting an angry red glow across the sky. Under this burning sky, among the rubble of shattered buildings, a robed figure darted from behind the charred hulk of a burning vehicle. The robes were red, the hems decorated with the blasphemous runes of the heretic's Chaos worshipping cult. The heretic threw himself down behind a mound of rubble where a building had partially collapsed into the street. The Chaos cultist paused for a few seconds to catch his breath.

Once his labored breathing had returned to a more controlled state, the heretic peered cautiously over the rubble, his eyes straining to see farther down the street. The message he carried in his memory echoed through his frail mind, the words entrusted to him growing louder and more urgent the closer he got to his objective. His mind's eye could still see the imposing form of the Chaos Marine towering over him as he cowered in fear, struggling to commit the message to memory. _You will go…Manufactory District 4…tell Champion Nolesh…pull back…link up with my squad at the vehicle park…you understand, slave? Y-y-yes! I understand master!_

The heretic, spurred by the memory of his master's order, sprang to his feet and sprinted the last hundred meters down the street and into the dark and shadowed interior of a bombed out building. Panting, he slowed as he passed through a charred doorway. Two blurs of motion came out of the shadows, and he let out a strangled cry of terror as he found himself staring down the menacing barrels of two boltguns. "Don't shoot! I am just a messenger! A slave, nothing more!"

The boltguns, and the imposing forms of the Chaos Marines behind them, did not move. Another shape detached itself from the shadows. It passed through a ray of light from the setting sun that had filtered in through the shattered ceiling. The light illuminated its horrid features, and the heretic let out a quiet yelp of fear. It was an Aspiring Champion of the Black Legion, and unlike the other two Marines, this one did not wear a helmet to hide his twisted features. There was a gaping, singed wound across the left side of its face and neck. Warped by battle and by the tainted caress of Chaos itself, the hideous face was mercifully enveloped by the shadows once more as the Marine moved out of the light to stand in front of the heretic. The shadows could not hide the Champion's eyes, which glared out at the heretic. The shaking cultist looked up at the two red orbs that were fixed on him, cringing away from their daemonic essence.

"Speak your message, slave," the shadow said.

"Aspiring Champion Galen wishes that you pull back from no man's land. He wishes you to meet his squad at the vehicle park. He could not contact you over the vox and sent me as a runner instead!"

Champion Nolesh stared at the trembling cultist for a few seconds. "Wait here for further instructions, slave."

With two quick hand signals, he ordered the rest of his squad to come to him. More shapes separated from the shadows and fell in behind the Aspiring Champion as he moved to the other side of the room where the heretic could not hear. "Our brother Galen desires us to fall back and link up with him in the vehicle park. He has something in mind."

A Chaos Marine crouching nearby spoke up, "He may just want to share in the glory of our infiltration. We have come this far out into no-man's land. If he wants to take his squad in, he can come to us. There are still servants of the corpse-god of Man to kill."

Nolesh shook his head. "Galen is a trusted brother. He has come through for us before. He has something big in mind. We will fall back."

Another Marine raised his voice. "What of the enemy sniper outside?"

Nolesh frowned. "Rest easy, brother. I will not leave without his head. Not after he came so close to killing me today, not after he gave me this," Nolesh snarled, his gauntleted hand flitting up to touch the burned and wounded side of his face, "We won't shrink away in the face of one of the corpse-Emperor's lackeys."

Nolesh's gaze fell upon the heretic still standing in the doorway. "We will use the slave. Brother Malties! Get into position with your heavy bolter. I want you ready to splatter that sniper against the wall he is hiding behind. We will use the slave to draw a shot from the sniper. When he fires, you will see exactly where he is. You know what to do from there."

Malties hefted his bulky weapon, pounding his fist against his breastplate in salute. "For Chaos!" Malties hissed.

Nolesh turned to the heretic.

Danulas, Imperial Guardsman and sniper in the Cadian 114th, glared at the small portion of this infernal planet that he could see through the scope of his rifle. The setting sun cast a reddish tint over the usually gray cityscape, as if it had been splashed with blood. He knew that somewhere in the building he was looking at were the huddled forms of eight Chaos Space Marines. He had seen them in the windows many times, but had never bothered with a shot. He was waiting for one target in particular. The leader of the squad was one of those Chaos Marines who arrogantly flaunted their enemies by choosing not to wear a helmet into battle. Those were his favorite kind of Chaos Marine.

He had wounded the traitorous heretic earlier today, when he had spotted the squad slowly snaking their way through the rubble. They had walked into this kill zone. His shot had been off. Instead of catching the bareheaded Marine directly in the head, the las blast had sliced through the side of his face and neck. The heat of the blast had cauterized the wound, and while it still would have been incapacitating to a normal human, it would take a more lethal shot to kill a Space Marine.

He lifted his head from his rifle and looked out over the crumbling wall he was using as cover. He was not worried about being spotted. His chameleoline cloak and the gray camouflage scheme of his Cadian issue Imperial Guard fatigues made him blend in amongst the rubble. The fact that the sun was setting behind him did not hurt either. The glare would make him harder to spot and the sun would illuminate his targets.

There was a flash of movement, a dark red against the burning red of the sun's glow. He immediately dropped his head to his rifle, locking in on where he had seen the red blur. He floated the crosshairs of the scope over the rubble, when he saw it. A head was peeking over the remains of a wall. It was not a loyalist's head. The heretic had taken a knife to his flesh, engraving the repulsive eight-pointed star of Chaos to his forehead.

He ached to pull the trigger, to obliterate that obscene face from the Emperor's sight. But he hesitated. If he shot the heretic, he might give away his position to the real threat. The Chaos Marines in that building were always watching. Suddenly, another shape detached itself from the rubble. He caught sight of black flak armor and gray camouflaged fatigues. _An Imperial Guardsman!_ He stayed focused on the developing scene in front of him. The Guardsman appeared again. He was unaware of the heretic hiding no more than 20 meters from his position. He was definitely a Guardsman of Danulas' regiment. He wore solid black flak armor over fatigues camouflaged in shades of gray with specks of white and black scattered throughout the pattern. The Cadian Gate was emblazoned on the right shoulder plate of his flak armor, marking him as one of the stalwart guardians of the gate to Chaos that were the Cadian Imperial Guard. This was no heretic.

What was he doing alone in no man's land? Whatever he was doing there, it was about to get him killed. Even if he discovered the presence of the cultist, there was an entire squad of Chaos Marines in a building down the street from him. If the cultist didn't kill him, the Marines surely would. He had to decide. He had the power to save the Guardsman's life, or at least prolong it. With the pull of a trigger, he could kill the cultist and warn the Guardsman of the presence of enemy troops. But to do so risked revealing his position to the deadly Marines. They were veterans of thousands of battles. They would not miss.

Undecided, he sighted in on the building, making a quick scan of the windows and gaps in the walls. He found what he was looking for. In a second floor window was the dark form of a Chaos Marine. He was carrying a bulky weapon, most likely a heavy bolter. That weapon could send hundreds of explosive shells scything through his position before he could so much as get up to run away.

He swung his rifle back to the Guardsman. He was still creeping along, drawing closer to the building and the heretic that lay in ambush. Danulas cursed. The moment over, he began to quietly intone a prayer to the Emperor as he sighted in on the heretic.

The heretic peered over the top of the wall at the Imperial Guardsman he saw across the street. He did not know what to do. Aspiring Champion Nolesh had ordered him to move down the street to another position, where he said that more of his squad members were waiting. He was to tell them to return to Nolesh's position. But there was no movement from the crater where he was told to go. He could not see into the bottom of the crater from where he was, but it was doubtful that there were any Marines in it. However, Nolesh had ordered him to deliver a message there, and he could not refuse.

Should he jeopardize the message by risking his life to attack the Guardsman? Too confused and too weak minded to contemplate his decision fully, he merely did what his instincts told him to do. He reached into his robes and pulled out a defiled laspistol and a long-bladed knife. When the Guardsman moved by him, he would attack him from behind and kill him.

Guardsman Jaal, a Shock Trooper of the 114th Cadian Regiment, was exhausted. Originally part of a special weapons squad of six Cadians, he was now alone and lost, wandering aimlessly through no man's land, trying to find his way back to Imperial lines. His squad had contained two snipers and a Guardsman equipped with a meltagun. They were to harass enemy infiltrators and to bring fiery death to any enemy vehicles they encountered with the meltagun. They had not gone very far before they were discovered by a group of three circling Chaos Raptors. The screeching assault Marines of Chaos Undivided had descended upon Jaal's squad. Within seconds, Jaal's squad had disappeared in a welter of gore and arcs of blood. He had been lucky to escape with his life, disappearing beneath the streets through an open manhole. The sewers had been dark, and he could not tell what lay in wait beyond the light from the open manhole, so he waited for the Raptors to give up and fly away, howling in frustration at the loss of their prey. He had spent the next two days sneaking cautiously from building to building, from pile of rubble to pile of rubble, searching for any sign of Imperial forces.

The sun was setting in the distance. It was time to find a place to wait out the night. He saw a shadowed building down the street from his position whose outer walls seemed mostly intact that looked like a good candidate for a place to get some sleep in relative safety. He rose from the ground and ran towards a nearby pile of rubble, bent low to make him less of a target to any enemy troops who might be watching. He stopped next to a low wall and prepared to make the last sprint towards the building.

There was a crunch of sliding rubble, and a shadow suddenly appeared over him. He spun around, but was too late. He saw the knife blade arcing towards him, blood red sunlight catching on its razor sharp edge. He saw the hideous face of the cultist behind the blade, its face cracked in what passed for a twisted smile. Then, the face disappeared. There was a flash of red light, and the top half of the heretic's face was blown away. The body went limp and fell over him. Jaal shoved the tainted corpse away and gathered up his lasgun, silently thanking the sniper that had saved him.

From the building ahead, a tongue of flame leapt from a second story window, and the booming report of a heavy weapon echoed down the street. He saw a flurry of activity through the gaps in the first floor walls. There were Chaos Marines in that building. He set the firing selector on his lasgun to rapid fire and unclipped a massive demolition charge from his belt. The demo charge could take out an entire floor. He just had to get close enough to use it. He started crawling forwards.

Danulas cursed out loud, rolling behind the wall as hundreds of mass-reactive bolts impacted all around him, throwing up dirt and debris in tiny eruptions. The Chaos Marine with the heavy bolter had seen him. Suddenly, rounds started punching through the wall. He dropped his rifle and curled up into a tiny ball, forcing himself deeper into the rubble. He screamed the entire time, the sound of his voice drowned out by the explosions of the bolts.

As quickly as it had started, the bombardment stopped. Danulas hesitated for a moment, but was on his feet in a second. A lifetime of training kicked in and he leapt for more solid cover, scooping up his rifle as he went. Another burst of bolter fire tore the top off of the wall, but he was already safe. He started moving, searching for a position from which he could return fire. He saw the perfect place. A section of wall from a collapsed building was propped against some piles of rubble. He slid underneath the wall. It was pitch black there. He would be invisible to the Chaos Marines. He crawled forward to a break in the rubble and propped his rifle against it. He looked through the scope and found his target. The Marine was still in the upper window, the gaping maw of his heavy bolter swinging back and forth in search of its master's prey.

He saw the Guardsman. The Shock Trooper was either very foolish or very brave. He was crawling towards the building, dragging some sort of satchel. He could also see the other Chaos Marines moving around inside the building. There was still no sign of the Aspiring Champion. He could not help the Guardsman now. He was on his own. Sighing, Danulas swung his rifle back over to the Marine in the second story window.

Nolesh purred with pleasure as he heard the rippling thunder of Malties' heavy bolter as it reached out to claim the soul of the enemy sniper. In seconds, it would all be over, and they could fall back to the vehicle park with another Imperial lackey to add to their very long list of kills. "Squad, prepare to move out!" he barked.

His Marines began collecting their gear and moved began to fall in near their Champion. Suddenly, there was a burst of lasfire. The harsh red beams caught one of Nolesh's Marines in his shoulder and the side of his head. The Marine, unfazed by the impact of the blasts and safe inside of his power armor, spun towards a window and let loose a sustained burst of bolter fire. "An Imperial Guardsman! Outside!" the Marine yelled.

Nolesh snarled at the Marine, "Kill it!"

Before he could move, a heavy satchel flew through the window, sailing over the Marine's shoulder to land in the middle of the room. Nolesh dove away, but it was too late. There was a blinding flash as the explosion picked Nolesh up and threw him across the room.

Jaal dove behind a pile of rubble, covering his head as the explosion of the demolition charge took out the first floor of the building. The explosion shook the ground, and the force of the blast sent debris hurtling out of the windows. The walls cracked under the strain and collapsed. The second floor fell in as the walls gave out beneath it, and the ruined building collapsed in a cloud of dust.

Jaal rose to his knees and hefted his lasgun. He reached down to his belt and pulled out his combat knife. The blade doubled as a bayonet, and he clipped it to the end of his rifle. Satisfied, he raised his lasgun and aimed into the settling dust. If anything moved, it would eat a storm of lasfire.

Danulas watched in shock as the building collapsed in the wake of the explosion. The Marine with the heavy bolter disappeared in the cloud of debris as he fell through the shattered floor. Danulas waited patiently, his crosshairs focused on the cloud of dirt. The dust settled enough that he could see through it. The Guardsman was cautiously advancing towards the building, his lasgun at the ready.

The rubble shifted, and a huge shape in jet-black armor sat up. The Guardsman opened fire, unleashing a torrent lasfire at the Chaos Marine, but it was not enough. The Marine lifted his weapon, a heavy bolter, and prepared to fire. It was the Marine from the window. Danulas fired first. The blast struck the side of the Marine's helmet, stunning him. The Chaos Marine lifted his hand to his head in shock. The Guardsman was fumbling with his lasgun, struggling to reload in the time that Danulas had bought him. Danulas fired again.

This time, the las shot penetrated, burning through the Chaos Marine's helmet and releasing a spray of dark blood over the rubble behind it. The Guardsman finished reloading and advanced further into the collapsed building. There was a flash as the Guardsman executed some unseen wounded Chaos Marine. The Guardsman kicked around some rubble. There was a series of bright blasts as he sent a burst of lasfire into the head of another mortally wounded Chaos Marine, followed by a plunge of the bayonet into its throat. Danulas smiled. This Guardsman was delivering the Emperor's just wrath to these heretics. There could be no mercy, for the forces of Chaos would show none in return.

The smile froze on Danulas' face as he saw the rubble shift behind the Guardsman. An armored form pulled itself free of the rubble, and swung a chainsword at the Guardsman's head. The Cadian soldier reacted quickly, diving away from the monstrosity while firing off several wild bursts of fire. Some shots hit, but they were not enough to penetrate the Marine's power armor. The Guardsman started reloading, scrambling to his feet in an effort to stay away from the Chaos Marine's whirring chainsword.

Danulas aligned his scope with the Chaos Marine's head. It was bare. His target, the Aspiring Champion, lay beneath the crosshairs of his rifle. His finger tightened on the trigger, ready to pull it, when the Chaos Marine started running. It was going to charge the Guardsman and cut him down. Two choices confronted Danulas. He could take the shot at the moving target, potentially saving the Guardsman's life, or potentially alerting the Marine to his presence. He could also wait until the target was standing victorious over his slaughtered prey. He would be an easy, stationary target then. He made his decision before his mind even had a chance to fully assess the choices.

Nolesh roared in fury as he erupted from the rubble, and his chainsword howled in sympathetic agony. This human whelp had killed his entire squad. He would pay for every death with excruciating pain. Nolesh swung his chainsword at the Guardsman's head, but the loyalist lackey ducked beneath the blade and dove to the side. Insane laughter hissed from Nolesh's throat as lasfire impacted all over the front of his armor. At this range, the shots cut deeply into the ceramite plating, but it was still not enough to penetrate.

The Guardsman struggled to get away as he struggled to reload. Nolesh charged. He ran at the Guardsman, his chainsword raised high above his head for the killing blow. Suddenly, his vision was filled with a burning red light. There was a sharp pain as the near miss singed the flesh of his face. _The sniper!_ He spun to face the bleak expanse of no man's land, hatred for the foe he could not see filling him. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye, but it was too late.

He felt cold steel plunge into his neck. It was the Guardsman. Nolesh swung his arm, knocking the Cadian trooper away and sending him sprawling across the rubble. Nolesh yanked the lasgun and its bayonet from his neck. A rush of blood followed the blade, but it quickly began to lessen as his enhanced bloodstream began attempting to clot the wound. He spun the rifle around and moved over the body of the Guardsman, ready to plunge the bayonet through his chest.

Jaal stared up at the towering form of the Chaos Marine. He was defenseless. This is how he would die. He stared into those horrid red eyes and spat. "The Emperor will damn your soul, traitor!" he snarled.

"He already has, human. And for that, I can never forgive Him," The Marine said.

Jaal watched as the Marine raised the rifle into the air, the bloodstained bayonet aimed at his heart. Those burning eyes filled his vision. Then, they opened wide as a powerful blast of lasfire tore through the side of the Marine's skull, passing through the head and into the rubble beyond. Steam poured from the gaping wound as the Marine fell to the side, the eyes of fire dimmed for all eternity. Jaal gathered up his lasgun and rose to his feet, which was difficult to do for his knees were shaking from the adrenaline.

There was a series of dull explosions in the direction of the Imperial lines followed by the shrieking of artillery shells as they passed overhead to blow apart the Chaos lines. The bombardment did not stop. In the distance, Jaal could see a cloud of dust from thousands of Imperial soldiers advancing through the Manufactory District alongside hundreds of armored vehicles. The loyal servants of the Emperor were mounting an attack. He sat down on a piece of rubble that had once been the wall of the building and rested his lasgun across his lap. The Imperial forces would pass through here on their way to engage the forces of Chaos. He would join them.

He knew that somewhere out there, was the sniper that was his savior. Even though Jaal could not see the sniper, he could feel the sniper's eyes on him. He would never know the sniper's identity, so he did the only thing he could. He offered a quick prayer to the Emperor to watch over the hidden soldier.

The sun had almost fully settled beneath the horizon, the fire in the sky had diminished to streaks of light, casting the cityscape beneath it in shadow. Jaal listened to the sound of the artillery and sighed. This was the sound of war. It was not a war that would end with this attack or the recapture of this planet. This was an eternal war for the very survival of mankind.

There was a sound from beneath the rubble. It was a wounded Chaos Marine. Jaal got up and moved cautiously towards the source of the sound. It was too dark for the sniper to cover him now. He could not risk another ambush. He moved aside some of the rubble with his foot. There was a mutilated Marine there, torn by the blast and smashed by the rubble. How he was still alive was a mystery to Jaal. He leveled his lasgun at the bloodstained helmet. "For your crimes against the Emperor, I sentence you to death," Jaal said solemnly.

The Chaos Marine struggled to move, but the rubble had him pinned. He could only look up at Jaal. The words of the Litany of the Lasgun echoed through Jaal's mind as he pulled the trigger.

_Bringer of death, speak your name,_

_For you are my life, and the foe's death._


End file.
